Integration of a photovoltaic system with an electric heat pump and electrical energy storage serving an office building

Abstract

A renewable-based system able to meet pure electric, space heating and cooling loads of a small office building located in Southern Italy is evaluated here. The proposed energy conversion system is based on a photovoltaic plant, an electric-driven heat pump and electrical energy storage. Energy and environmental performance of this system has been evaluated by means of a dynamic simulation software changing photovoltaic nominal power (4.5-7.5 kW), battery capacity (3.2-9.6 kWh), and reference electrical system. The aim of the paper is the energy and environmental comparison on monthly, as well as, on yearly basis between the proposed system and the reference conventional system. The conventional system is based on the power grid, a natural gas fired boiler and an electric-driven chiller. The analysis here reported shows how monthly variation of electric reference system, due to different monthly Italian electricity mix production, influences the energy and environmental performance of the solar-based system. The proposed system guarantees high primary energy saving and equivalent carbon dioxide emissions reduction up to about 93%.